Nearer my God to Thee
by Bard the Kiwi
Summary: The Doctor and Rose land on the Titanic, twelve hours before she is due to collide with the iceberg. Content to observe the final hours of the historic vessel, it soon becomes clear an alien presence is on board, and the Doctor must find the culprit before history is changed forever...


Rose stepped out onto the deck of the great ocean liner, walking over to the rail and leaning over the side of the ship. The water was a good 70 feet below her, which made her feel a little uneasy, and instinctively took a step back.

Beside her, the Doctor took the rail beside her, staring out to the horizon.

"Nice day" he said, taking note of a couple of the passengers nearby playing shuffleboard.

"It's a stunning view. I've never been on a big boat before."

"Ship" the Doctor corrected, "big ship. C'mon, you're in first class with the rest of these stupid apes, you have to appear educated."

"Oi! I am educated!" Rose spat back defensively.

"Sure" the Doctor said, leaning back against the rail, looking back at the nearest of the four large funnels which dominated the vessel's superstructure. Rose followed his gaze.

"Good news about that chameleon circuit" said Rose, reminding the Doctor of his success at fixing of the Tardis' most annoying bugs.

The Doctor nodded. "Won't last. Never does."

"It's massive" said Rose, bringing them back to the present. "Bigger than I thought it would be."

"Almost 270 metres long, over 50,000 tons and capable of 24 knots." The Doctor said proudly, then his smile began to wane. "Pity really."

"I know" said Rose, watching a handful of children race past them, their minder attempting to keep them in check. "How long have we got?"

"In 12 hours this ship will be on the bottom of the Atlantic, along with two-thirds of the people on board. Don't worry, we'll be long gone by then."

"It's not me I'm thinking about" said Rose, watching as passengers began filling into doorways to head for the first class dining saloon for Sunday church services. As Rose turned away, the Doctor noticed Captain Smith staring at him intently, before turning and walking into the doorway after the passengers. The Doctor noticed it with interest.

Rose turned to look back out to sea. Living out the last few hours of the Titanic would certainly be memorable.

…..

The Doctor and Rose strode down a corridor on A Deck. Rose noted with amusement that the Doctor was acting like he owned the whole ship, though had been told the actual owner, Mr J. P. Morgan, cancelled at the last minute… at the Doctor's request. Rose felt the Doctor needed time out, after all the incident with her father – while shattering for _her_ – had temporarily seen the Doctor erased from existence. That allied with fact that the Dalek war that cost the Doctor his entire species.

Put simply, the man deserved a break.

A few passengers greeted them as they left their cabins. The Doctor always smiled and nodded, Rose thought to herself, despite the looks he received. Even though they were in April 1912 _and_ trying to pass off as first class passengers, he still wished to wear his leather jacket.

Twice he had been stopped by various crewmembers asking to see his ticket, but one glance at the psychic paper took care of any doubt that the Doctor belonged in first class.

Rose stepped through the doorway and into the Grand Staircase. Despite not being fully inclined towards such things, she admired the wood panelling, and took particular interest in the cherub-like statues holding the central light fittings. Overhead, she glanced up at the massive glass dome that allowed natural light to flood the entire stairwell.

"It's beautiful" she said, not taking her eyes off the dome, nor knowing if the Doctor was actually behind her or had been absconded again by some concerned officer.

"It is" said a voice behind her. She turned and saw a young man in his teens. Rose smiled at the gentleman, and tried to act the part of first class socialite.

"I don't believe I've had the pleasure, Mr…?

"Thayer ma'am, Jack Thayer. I must say I've been all over this ship for the last four days and I can't honestly say I've bumped into you."

"Oh you know… here and there. Very busy being a first class passenger you know."

Jack smiled. Rose smiled back. _It wouldn't hurt to have some fun prior to the end of the world for many of these people_ thought Rose. _He probably won't survive anyway_.

The Doctor burst out of a corridor and ran straight up to Rose, almost knocking Jack out of the way.

"Rose, you know how whenever we travel we always bump into certain kinds of… people?"

Rose nodded slowly, not liking where this might be going.

"Well I've just heard some are here, likely down in the hold."

"Oh terrific" Rose said, and both she and the Doctor raced off down the majestic stairwell.

"Must be talking about Germans" said Jack to himself.

…..

The Doctor entered the hatch first, stepping into the forward hold of the Titanic.

"We must be quite low" said Rose.

"We are" said the Doctor, "this is the Orlop Deck, below the water line. Don't smash the hull unless you want a cold shower."

"No chance of that" said Rose, as she followed him in. The blue light from the sonic screwdriver faintly illuminated the poorly lit room.

"Oh I don't know" said the Doctor, smiling back at her. "Might come in handy after your little encounter with Mr Thayer up there."

"Get off!" she said, giving him a shove. "He was nice, I mean it's sad that such handsome men might die tonight-"

"He won't die, he's one of the lucky ones. His father on the other hand, does not. Now… what is making the screwdriver beep like this…"

The Doctor moved over to a large crate just below the hatch. Rose read the sign on the front of it:

Property of Mr W. E Carter

Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

Rose took a step back. "Maybe this Mr Carter is the one we're after."

The Doctor peeled himself away from his screwdriver. "Hmm? What- no, it's not him, besides, this crate's fine. Always meant to be here."

"It's so much larger than the rest."

"That's cos it's a car."

Rose looked at it again. "Really? Doesn't seem to be big enough."

The Doctor spun on her. "What were we saying about being educated? The car was deconstructed in Southampton and will be reassembled in New York. No need to send it intact."

"But in that movie I saw a few years ago-"

"Oh here we go, always believing what you see on the big screen. That was make believe Rose, trust your own eyes, you're actually here."

The Doctor resumed his search of the cargo hold, while Rose, feeling a little offended, hung back, keeping an eye on the rest of the room. After a couple of minutes, the Doctor sighed loudly.

"What is it?"

"Worse than I thought" said the Doctor. He picked up a hammer left abandoned on a small crate and threw it at the hull. Before Rose could protest, the hammer reacted in a way it shouldn't, at least not in 1912.

A green force field reacted at the intruder and generated enough energy to deflect the hammer back towards the Doctor, who avoided it with ease.

"A Force-12 Megallanic force field. Not seen one of these for a while."

"Who put it here?" said Rose,

"I don't know but we have less than 11 hours to find out; this covers around 450 feet of the ship's hull on it's starboard side – more than enough to prevent the ship sinking."

"Excuse me sir, madam? Could you come with us please?"

The Doctor and Rose turned to see two crewmembers standing at the door of the cargo hold. The Doctor stepped forward, reaching for his psychic paper.

"Oh no need to trouble you lads, we're just having a look around, we're allowed down here anyway-"

"No problem sir" said the first crewmember, "no need to see your tickets, it's just that you've been requested."

"Eh? Us? Here?"

"Yes sir, by the Captain. He wishes to have a word with you."

…..

The Doctor and Rose entered the Captain's cabin, and shut the door behind them. Rose noticed the room was sparse but elegant. The Doctor stepped further into the room and spotted the Captain staring out of his window towards the ocean.

"Ah Captain" said the Doctor, "pleasure to meet you. I'm the Doctor and this is Rose-"

"I know who you are, and you shouldn't be on this ship."

The Captain didn't turn away from the window as he spoke. The Doctor frowned.

"Know us? How do you know us, sir?"

"Your tales are legendary. Your reputation is concerning." The Captain turned and looked at the Doctor, all emotion drained from his face. "Your appearance is unwelcome."

"Have we met before?" said the Doctor, knowing it to be untrue.

"That is an interesting question."

"What does this say?" said the Doctor, holding up the psychic paper.

"Nothing, it's blank" said Captain Smith.

"Ah-ha! Fantastic! Love a challenge." The Doctor flipped out his sonic screwdriver and began scanning Captain Smith. Instantly the Captain grabbed his head as if to remove a great headache, keeling over. After a few seconds he removed his hands and stood up, his composure now one of normality. He glanced between the Doctor and Rose.

"Can I help you two?" he said, clearly confused by the intrusion.

"He doesn't even recognise us" said Rose.

"It's alright Captain, we merely wanted to thank you for your service earlier. Gripping stuff. We'll be on our way now. Rose…"

The Doctor indicated to Rose to leave, and both of them left the room in a hurry. Captain Smith glanced around the room trying to understand what he had missed, or who the two people were in his room.

…..

"Gripping stuff?" asked Rose, as she watched the Doctor emerge from the Tardis, which was currently disguised as a large shipping container in the cargo hold.

"He knew what I meant" said the Doctor, locking the door behind him. They began to leave the cargo hold, heading back to the top of the deck.

"What do you think is up with the captain?" asked Rose.

"I don't know, but I have seen something similar, few hundred years and over half a dozen regenerations ago."

"Re-what?"

"Never mind, might show you sometime. Yeah, seen something like it, but it's absurd, it can't possibly be."

The Doctor and Rose entered the corridor near the hold, moving off towards a row of windows.

"You gonna stop playing games and tell me what you think it is?"

"Daleks."

Rose stopped as the Doctor walked out onto the boat deck. "Oh… really?"

Rose followed the Doctor into the sunlight. Both of them stood at the railing.

"How can it be the Daleks? I thought they were all wiped from existence in the Time War?"

"Time is a tricky thing to understand. Mid-22nd century, Earth is invaded by the Daleks. Half the population is killed, the rest enslaved, ordered to work in mines across the planet in a bid to turn Earth into a mobile battle station."

"What stopped them?"

"Well, I may have… intervened. But the point is, the Daleks didn't have a huge force so they kidnapped humans and took them under their control. Called them Robo-men. Lost all individual thought. The process at the time was irreversible. Death was their only way out."

"And you think this is what has happened to Captain Smith?"

The Doctor nodded. "Something similar, yes. I mean mind control is nothing unique to the Daleks. But this is me we're talking about. I just have this feeling-"

"Rose!"

Rose turned to see Jack Thayer walking towards her. The Doctor rolled his eyes, but opted to move off towards the stern as Jack arrived, unable to hide his smitten smile.

"Hello Rose."

"Hi'ya." Rose couldn't help but smile like a shy young schoolgirl.

"I was wondering, if you don't mind me asking, that you would accompany me to dinner tonight. We hope you will attend."

"I'll er, think about it and let you know. I have to make sure it's ok with my… chaperone."

"Of course. I understand completely. I hope to see you tonight then."

Jack backed away, smiling, unable to take his eyes off her, when he bumped into a first class couple walking the other way. Rose laughed as Jack apologized profusely to the couple. She was interrupted when the Doctor came up and grabbed her arm, indicating they should head inside.

"What? What is it?"

"It's the ship. She's off course. If she stays on her present heading she'll miss the iceberg."

…

The Doctor glanced furtively around the corner, and seeing the coast was clear indicated Rose to follow.

"You think they'll just let you on the bridge" she whispered, glancing over her shoulder.

"Smith recognized the psychic paper for what it was. I'm hoping the rest of the crew aren't as frustrating."

The Doctor stepped onto the bridge, when the deck officer turned and looked at the intruder with surprise.

"Who, sir, are you? This area is restricted-"

The Doctor stepped forward, shoving the psychic paper in his face. "Assistant and personal physician to Mr J. P Morgan, at your service."

"A Doctor eh?" said the officer, apparently believing what the psychic paper was telling him.

"Yes, and this is my assistant, Rose. We're just here, making sure everything is going ok. Mr Morgan sadly couldn't attend but he sent me."

"His Doctor?"

"I don't question ol' Johnny's motives and I don't think you should too. Now… everything alright up here?"

The officer turned to face the ship's bow. "Yes sir, we're currently maintaining course, speed is 19 knots, nothing major to report."

"Any… icebergs at all?"

The Doctor shot her a glance.

"A few warnings ma'am, from the Caronia and the Baltic, but nothing you need concern yourself about. In fact Mr Ismay and the Captain recently altered course to take us further south, out of range of the ice floes for this time of year."

"What is the meaning of this!?"

The Doctor turned to see Captain Smith enter the bridge.

"Captain, this man is-"

"This man is an imposter and I want him off my bridge immediately."

"Very well, I don't want any hassles. Come along Rose."

The Doctor and Rose moved to leave. As the Doctor passed by the Captain, he spun round and plunged his sonic screwdriver into his neck, causing the Captain to momentarily become dizzy. He put his hand on the rail, but as the deck officer reached the Captain the Doctor and Rose were already gone.

…

"What was that about?!" yelled Rose as they raced into the cargo hold and slammed the door behind them.

"I needed to check something. And glad I did. There's a Dalek on board."

"Oh great… terrific. What do we do?"

"Find it and kill it."

…

In a darkened cabin, Captain Smith was standing holding his head as if trying to rub away a headache. Before him, a Dalek stood silent, watching him.

"You have failed" it said, noting the pathetic human's attempts to retreat despite the mental conditioning for him to stay perfectly still.

"I did not expect this adversary of yours to show up. He has machines I have not seen before-"

"Silence. You will bring the Doctor to me for extermination."

"How can I?" pleaded Smith. "There are several decks he can be hiding in."

"The Doctor knows you are part of the plan. He will find you. You may also find his companion and use her against him."

"I obey."

…

Rose crept along the corridor, peering gently around to the next hallway, when the Doctor came around behind her, not bothering to hide. Rose stood up, not too pleased.

"You could've told me we weren't sneaking about anymore."

"Smith isn't the issue. We can deal with him or his men easily. It's the Dalek we're worried about."

"And why aren't we hiding from it?"

"Because it hasn't been seen yet. Which means we're not likely to bump into it coming round a corner now are we?"

A noise behind them caused Rose to turn around. Standing there was Jack Thayer, smiling. Behind him another man nodding towards her with a similar smile.

"Rose this is Milton Long, Milton, this is the lady I was telling you about."

"Spreading rumours about me, are ya?" said Rose.

"Listen… we were just about to have a cup of coffee but if you'd like to join us-"

"Oh no, I couldn't, I mean we have less than three hours to find- I mean, we have to-"

The Doctor stepped forward, giving Rose the pleasure of shutting herself up. "She'd be delighted."

"Eh?" said Rose.

The Doctor turned back to her, and lowered his voice. "If I can't find the Dalek then Smith might lead you to it, and Smith will most likely be milling about first class now won't he?"

"Right… come along then you two."

Rose allowed herself to be led away down the corridor, a man hanging off each arm. The Doctor watched her go, then headed off in another direction.

…

The Doctor rounded a bend, and walked straight into an officer.

"Oi, watch it mate!" said the officer, who the Doctor immediately identified as Joseph Boxhall, the Fourth Officer. He briefly considered pulling out the psychic paper, then opted against it.

"Sorry guv" he said, putting on a terrible Cockney accent. "Just tryin' to find me way and pay me complements to the Captain for the lovely service he did this afternoon. You ain't seen 'im lately 'av ya?"

"The Captain is not available at this time of night. You can catch him first thing in the morning."

"Oh I doubt it… thanks anyway guv." With that the Doctor walked off down the corridor at a brisk pace.

…

Rose was heading back to the dining room after excusing herself to go to the bathroom. Taking instead a quick tour of the upper decks to see if she could spot the Captain, she decided to return to Jack and Milton in case Smith returned to their section of first class.

She rounded a corner, seeing the ornate doors of the first class dining saloon ahead of her when she heard a door slide open behind her, and an unearthly noise made her stop in her tracks.

"You will follow me!"

Rose turned to see the plunger and gun stalks of a Dalek protruding from the darkness of the room beyond, the rest of the Dalek obscured from view. Rose reluctantly walked into the room, as the Dalek retreated and the door slammed shut.

…

The Doctor turned a corner in yet another corridor and slammed into yet another officer.

"I really must stop doing that" he said to himself, and turned to apologise to the man he hit.

"Come with me" said Captain Smith.

The Doctor watched as Smith started off down the corridor. After a few seconds, Smith turned around.

"We have Rose. I suggest you follow."

The Doctor put the sonic screwdriver back in his pocket and carried on after Smith.

…

The Doctor followed Smith into one of the lower cargo holds. Holding the door open for the Doctor, he stepped through into a forward cargo hold they initially found the force field in. In the centre of the room stood the Dalek, beside him the body of Rose lay motionless on the deck.

"I would ask how you survived but you look older. Not from my time. Time traveller I take it?" The Doctor began to move towards Rose. "What have you done to her?" snarled the Doctor.

"She lives. You will obey or she dies."

"Why are you here? What could you possibly gain from preventing this ship from sinking?"

"We will allow our forces in the future to exterminate the human resistance."

The Doctor slowly stepped into the centre of the room, keeping his eyes on the Dalek but moving to kneel beside Rose. She wimpered as he touched her hair.

"I don't follow. How?"

"We have calculated the existence of a human travelling on a ship across the Atlantic in 1914. This vessel would have been destroyed had it not been for the creation of the International Ice Patrol."

"That's a pretty big supposition. How do you know this?"

"Many records were lost in the war. This was one of the few surviving records depicting the ancestor of the enemy."

The Doctor stood, and took a step towards the Dalek, who rolled back a couple of inches. "Ancestor of whom?"

"The human resistance leader known as Tyler."

"Tyler? Carl Tyler?" said the Doctor, remembering back – or in this case forwards – to the events of mid-22nd century and how he assisted the resistance movement against the Dalek invasion of Earth, including Tyler, one of the men who was instrumental in bringing the Daleks down.

"By exterminating his ancestor he will cease to exist."

"So by preserving the Titanic the ice patrols don't come into being and the future of the human race is forever altered."

"Yes."

The Doctor glanced over his shoulder. "Do you agree with this?"

Captain Smith stood by the wall, motionless but appeared as if he would be sick at any moment.

"Oh come on Captain, this is your ship. You gonna let one inferior green blob order you about-"

"Silence!" the Dalek yelled.

"I will not be silent!" the Doctor proclaimed. "I'm a Time Lord, and I don't think- wait a minute…"

The Dalek's eye stalk continued to scan and focus on the Doctor, not knowing what his greatest enemy was planning.

"Why haven't you tried to kill me yet?"

"I do not understand your question-"

"Oh come on teapot it's quite simple – I'm the one you want dead, every fibre of your twisted DNA wants it. And yet you haven't fired at me. Why?"

The Dalek didn't answer.

"Oh I get it… interesting. You've picked up on my little protection have you?"

"Deactivate your shield or the girl dies."

The Doctor ignored the Dalek, instead turning to face Captain Smith.

"You see Eddie – I can call you Eddie, can't I – the Dalek can't shoot me cos I downloaded part of the Megallanic force field into my sonic screw driver. It's not very powerful; one shot from a Dalek blast would shut it down but… then again one shot from a Dalek would shot the whole lot down… and the Dalek can't risk a ricochet…"

"Doctor… please remove-"

"When was the last time you saw Sarah?"

Smith hesistates. "What… I-"

"You know, Sarah, your wife. Such a lovely lady. Or Helen, your daughter. Both of them fantastic, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes… yes I… AAAARRRGGGHHH!"

Smith collapsed to his knees, the pain in his head becoming too great. The Doctor quickly ran behind the Captain, putting the sonic screwdriver to the back of his head.

"Keep back from him!" screamed the Dalek.

"Don't mind me, just planning on ending this poor man's suffering. Might be a bit of a blow back though – expect a little circuit or two to blow inside you."

"No!" screamed the Dalek, and fired at the Doctor.

Instinctively the Doctor pushed his screwdriver in the path of the beam, it's blast deflecting off the small green energy barrier which dissipated quickly upon impact. The blast carried on towards the hull, hitting the shield and causing it to become visible. The room glowed a bright green as the shield screamed as it slowly died, exposing rest of the ship to the mercies of the hull.

The Dalek heard a noise beside it. Turning it saw Rose pulling back a cover which leads to a cargo space on the Orlop deck directly below. The Doctor ran to stand beside her, catching her as she swayed.

"Your efforts are futile! You will both be exterminated!"

The Doctor put his arm around Rose as the Dalek lined up it's gun stalk to fire. Immediately it's proximity sensors warned of someone very close behind it. It swung it's eye stalk to observe the intruder.

"Get off my ship!"

Captain Smith gave the Dalek an almighty shove with his shoulder, his body enhanced by the Dalek's device on his neck. Unprepared, the Dalek found itself being propelled across the floor and over the hatch Rose had previously opened. The Dalek fell from the small height of the upper level onto the Orlop deck but it was enough. The casing cracked as it hit the deck below, landing on a metal beam that spanned the deck. The Kaled mutant inside screamed as the Dalek's own casing shattered, sending splitters of metal and circuitry into its tiny body. The Doctor stepped forward to look through the hatch, smiling as he saw the light from the eye stalk fade into nothing.

"Doctor!"

The Doctor turned and saw Rose kneeling beside Smith, who had collapsed to the floor. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at his neck. The low whine slowly brought Smith back to a coherent state, and his eyes conveyed the fact the pain had subsided.

"Doctor… what- what happened?"

"You're safe now, but we're running out of time. Listen to me Captain, this is the hardest thing for me to say but tonight will be your last night on Earth."

"What? But I thought the Dalek was gone?"

"This ship and over three quarters of the people on her will soon sink. It's sounds horrible but you have to make sure it happens."

"But… but it will be a tragedy! We have to save them-"

"Listen to me Captain. The fall out from the destruction of the Titanic will have dramatic implications for the future. Yes hundreds will die tonight but thousands will be saved in the coming century. Can you help us…?"

Smith thought for a long time. Rose indicated to her watch. "Seventeen minutes Doctor."

"Captain?"

"Alright… if what you say is true… then it must be done."

"You will be immortalized forever Captain. This night will polarize nations on both sides of the Atlantic. We have to go but… Sarah will always be proud of you."

Smith nodded, then got up. "I must return to my cabin."

"Farewell Captain" said the Doctor. Rose hugged in close as the Captain walked from the room.

"Such a brave and sad man" she said.

"A fine ape if I ever did see one."

Rose slapped his sides. He grabbed her hand.

"Come on, time to move."

Both of them ran from the room.

…

Smith lay on his bed, aware he would only be there for a few minutes before being called to the bridge. He closed his eyes, comforted in the knowledge his actions this night will save the lives of countless others and - far in the future - humanity itself. Despite the Dalek lying dead in the forward hold, he knew he could still feel the influences at the back of his mind.

…

"What time did you say it was, Rose?" said the Doctor, his mind focused on readings on the Tardis console.

"11.33pm, ship time. What's the problem?"

"There are no icebergs in the area. I mean in seven minutes time the nearest iceberg big enough to cause damage will be 15 nautical miles away."

"So what do we do? Can we drag a berg into position?"

"No, wouldn't work, not enough time… unless…"

"Unless what?" asked Rose.

"The Titanic must sink. And we might have to be the ones to do it."

…

Over ninety feet above the deck, Frederick Fleet was rubbing his hands together and blowing warm air into his palms to keep them warm. All around, the sea was dead calm, and the moon was nowhere to be seen. Beside him, Reginald Lee was scanning the horizon for icebergs.

"Like glass, isn't it."

Fleet nodded. He was about to reply when he looked ahead and froze.

An unmistakable white outline of an iceberg was slowly moving closer to the Titanic's bow. Instantly Fleet grabbed the rope tied to the bell and shook it three times, then rang the bridge.

Down below, James Moody answered the call. "What do you see?"

"Iceberg right ahead!" yelled Fleet.

"Thank you" said Moody, and turned to William Murdoch, the first officer. "Iceberg right ahead sir!"

Murdoch instantly turned to quartermaster Hitchens. "Hard a'starboard!"

At least 30 seconds had past since Fleet had spotted the iceberg, and watched as it came closer and closer. He saw the ship turn slowly to port but realized it had been left far too late. The iceberg collided with the starboard side of the ship, Fleet feeling the vibrations as the berg scraped along the hull. Below the water line, the hull was punched inwards as the sudden pressure on the hull popped the rivets, exposing over 200 feet to the sea.

In the hour that followed, the ship's designer Thomas Andrews surveyed the damage and determined the ship would founder in less than two hours. The lifeboats were uncovered and evacuation of the ship began, despite the fact the total lifeboat capacity was less than half of those on board. And through it all, as history would record it, Captain Smith would appear to take little part in the rescue efforts.

…

"It's dead" said the Doctor, holding a burned out component he recently removed from the Tardis console.

"Nice while it lasted" said Rose, not taking her eyes off the screen. It was now 2.20am, ship time, and the Titanic's stern was now slowly disappearing beneath the surface of the sea. All around, debris and freezing bodies floated nearby, further out a group of 20 lifeboats sat back, waiting for the inevitable.

The impact of the Titanic hitting the Tardis had burned out the chameleon circuit, but it had just caused enough damage to mortally wound the mighty vessel. The Doctor put the component down, and went to stand by Rose.

"Is it over?"

"Yes." A tear rolled down her cheek.

The Doctor shut the scanner off and dematerialized the ship, sending the Tardis back into the time vortex.

"History remembered Smith as a man who failed when his crew needed him the most. I'd like to think he fought right until the end, but the Dalek technology held him back."

"So many lost… I can't even comprehend…"

"Imagine witnessing two entire species coming to extinction in a matter of seconds. Not to say 1500 souls isn't a comparison, but-"

"Don't. Just… don't."

The Doctor leaned back against the railing.

"So, Jack and Rose of the Titanic… had a nice ring to it didn't it?"

"Oh stop" said Rose, waving him off.

"Still, a time travelling Dalek sent back to try and prevent the birth of an ancestor that'll grow up to help fight in a war. Always gonna rain on your parade."

Rose smiled.

"Still, no great loss" said the Doctor. "That Dalek is now sitting at the bottom of an abyss-"

"Oh cut it out! You're making it sound like James Cameron is an alien!"

"Oh him…" said the Doctor, suddenly not very happy. "I hate shape shifters."


End file.
